A freshly unearthed Bronze-Age stone may be the oldest three-dimensional map in Europe, researchers say. The 2m by 1.5m slab (5ft by 6.5ft), first uncovered in 1900, was found again in a cellar in a castle in France in 2014. Archaeologists who studied patterns engraved on the 4,000-year-old stone say they believe the markings are a map of an area in western Brittany. They say this makes the slab the oldest 3D map of a known area in Europe.
After analysing marks and engravings on the stone, the researchers suspected it could be a map. The presence of repeated motifs joined by lines on its surface suggested it depicted an area of Finistère. The researchers say the indentations are a 3D representation of the River Odet valley, while several lines appear to depict the area's river network. Geo-location revealed the territory represented on the slab bears an 80% accuracy to an area around a 18 mile-long stretch of the river.
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